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Noodle Salad, Best Eaten Cold

Summer is finally here and while I feel a bit like yelling “you’re late and now you’re too hot,” I’m trying to just relax and enjoy the warm weather.

Compared to a lot of the country we have relatively cool temperature– we all think we’re going to melt once it reaches 85 degrees — but let’s be fair: no one I know has air conditioning in their house and it’s against the rules of nature to use the AC in my car unless I cross state lines. For those of you who have never visited Washington the same rules apply to umbrellas– only open them across state lines, and preferably not in Oregon or Idaho.

It was cold and rainy a few weeks ago when one of my favorite food bloggers, Elle of Elle’s New England Kitchen, made this noodle salad but I knew that we’d be seeing it soon at our dinner table. There were several things I liked about it: it looked easy, looked refreshing and I had nearly every ingredient in my pantry. The one exception was Sriracha hot pepper sauce and D and I couldn’t believe we’d lived our entire adult lives without buying a bottle. It somehow completes the condiment section of our refrigerator and it definitely takes some of the pressure off the Frank’s Red Hot.

Here’s Elle’s recipe for Sesame Chicken and Noodles, with a few minor modifications.

Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti noodles (I used whole-wheat noodles)

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce (Sriracha) (I used at least a tablespoon. I like spicy.)

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain and reserve 2 tbsp of cooking liquid. Combine broth through hot sauce in a small bowl.

Heat the oil in a large skilled over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salt over chicken and cook for about three minutes. Add carrots, onion and, if you’re using them, bell peppers and cook for two more minutes. At this point your chicken should be cooked. Add sauce mixture to pan. Add reserved cooking liquid and pasta and toss to coat. Garnish with remaining sesame seeds.

The recipe says to serve immediately, but I wasn’t in the mood for a plate of warm pasta so we let everything cool a bit and it was excellent. Next time I make this I’ll probably serve it chilled.

Before she sucked down the noodles LK said it was spicy, to which I always say “spicy is good.” When LK is a teenager I’m pretty sure she’s going to rebel by eating only white food and joining the Young Republicans.